Presque Isle Historical Society is pleased to have several programs suitable for local school programming. These programs, which must be booked a minimum of one month in advance and are subject to the availability of a Historical Society Program Coordinator, are provided at no cost to schools in School Administrative District 1.

Field Trips

• Tours of the 1875 Vera Estey House Museum
  Location: 16 Third Street in Presque Isle.
  Recommended age group: Grades 3 - 12
  Group limitations: Groups of up to 20 can be accommodated. A head count will be required in advance so as to have sufficient docents (tour guides) present.
  Bus parking: The driveway will accommodate a school bus.
  Duration: Tours last approximately one and a half hours.
  Facility: The house museum is not handicapped accessible and has no public restrooms.
  Time frame: This tour may be done year-round.
  Description: The house is a good example of upper middle class life in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In addition, Ms. Estey was an interesting figure in Presque Isle’s history being that she never married, a negative social stigma in that day and age; and she was an entrepreneur, very unique for a female in those times. The house is filled with a wide assortment of interesting artifacts from Presque Isle’s history from everyday life and with ties to other events in local history.
• Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Presque Isle
  Location: Tour starts in front of the 1875 Vera Estey
  House Museum at 16 Third Street.
  Recommended age group: Grades 6 - 12
  Group limitations: No size limit, although school groups should arrange for a sufficient number of chaperones for the group.
  Bus parking: The driveway at the Estey House will accommodate a school bus.
  Duration: Tours last approximately two hours.
  Facility: The tour is outdoors and covers two miles along city sidewalks.
  Time frame: This tour is best accomplished in warmer months (April – September).
  Description: The tour covers approximately 30 sites and individuals of local historical interest including, but not limited to, the Vera Estey House, the home of Presque Isle’s Pirate, homes of prominent attorneys Charles Allen and Charles Daggett, Downing Park, the Canadian & Pacific Railroad depot, Academy Training School, James Phair, St. John’s Episcopal Church, the library, Aroostook Valley Railroad and Arthur Gould, State Street Baptist, the Post Office, the historic Fire station, City Hall, the Congregational Church, Doble Block, the opera houses, Fred P. Stevens, the Northeastland Hotel, the Braden Theatre, Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, the Phair Hotel, Aroostook Valley Railroad, the boundary between Presque Isle and Maysville, Cunningham Middle School, and the Aroostook School of Commerce.
• Walking Tours of Historic Fairmount Cemetery
  Location: Tour starts in front of the Civil War
  Monument in the cemetery at 2 Houlton Road, Presque Isle.
  Recommended age group: Grades 5 - 12
  Group limitations: No size limit, although school groups should arrange for a sufficient number of chaperones for the group.
  Bus parking: The lower driveway at the Cemetery will accommodate a school bus.
  Duration: Tours last approximately one and one half hours.
  Facility: The tour is outdoors and is quite hilly.
  Time frame: This tour is only allowed by Fairmount Cemetery Association from May – October.
  Description: The tour introduces tour-goers to the largest public cemetery north of Bangor. The cemetery was established in 1864 and features a wide array of Victorian influences. Docents focus on these symbols throughout the cemetery, the history of the Civil War monument, and the interesting historical figures interred with the cemetery.
• City-wide Historic Tours aboard Molly the Trolley
  Location: Tour starts in front of the Middle School.
  Recommended age group: Grades 6 only
  Group limitations: The trolley accommodates 32
  individuals and is not handicapped accessible.
  Bus parking: n/a
  Duration: Tours last approximately two hours.
  Time frame: This tour is done in June.
  Description: The tour covers all of Presque Isle with approximately 40 sites of historical significance with ties to local, national and international history. These include, but are not limited to, historic downtown, Mantle Lake, Spragueville and the Double Eagle II, Riverside Park, Northern Maine Fair, Presque Isle Army Airbase and the SNARK missile launch pads and silos, the 1959 National Christmas Tree, and Maysville.

In the Classroom (Hands-on)
Presque Isle Historical Society has available over fifty (50) presentations on topics of local historic interest. The complete list may be found below. Some of the presentations that may be of most interest to school groups include:

• 19th Century Children’s Games
  Location: This program is best given outdoors or in a gymnasium as many of the activities are physical in nature.
  Recommended age group: K – grade 5
  Limitations: Most of the activities are physical requiring the ability to run and jump.
  Duration: Can be adjusted to meet your available time slot
  Time frame: any
  Description: This program features a short presentation followed by the children actually playing some of the old-time games which include, but are not limited to, Graces, Hopscotch, 3-legged race, and a wheelbarrow race.
• A Victorian Christmas
  Location: This program can be done in the classroom.
  Recommended age group: Grades 2 - 5
  Limitations: Tables for craft activities are needed. Please advise the Society in advance if there are any peanut allergies in your classroom.
  Duration: Approximately one and a half hours if craft activities are included.
  Time frame: Most appropriate in November and December.
  Description: This program features a medium-length presentation followed by the craft activities in which the students make a Victorian Christmas ornament to take home.
• The Civil War in Presque Isle
  Location: This program can be done in the classroom.
  Recommended age group: Grades 4 - 12
  Limitations: None.
  Duration: Can be adjusted to meet your available time slot.
  Time frame: any.
  Description: This program may vary from a formal one-hour presentation with hands-on artifacts and a docent in Civil War attire to a full Civil War exhibit with costumed docent interaction done as a field trip.
• The importance of candles to the early pioneer
  Location: This program can be done in the classroom.
  Recommended age group: Grades 3 - 8
  Limitations: Tables for craft activities are needed. Please advise the Society in advance if there are any allergies to beeswax in your classroom.
  Duration: Approximately one hours
  Time frame: any.
  Description: This program features a short presentation followed by the craft activities in which the students make a beeswax candle to take home.

Other presentations include:

• The 1959 National Christmas Tree
• Allen C.T. Wilson
• Allie Cole – A Maine Pioneer
• Augusta K. Christie
• Charles Phair
• Double Eagle II
• Flying Fingo
• Granville Gray
• History of the Aroostook Valley Railroad
• History of Banking in Presque Isle
• History of Entertainment in Presque Isle
• History of Gouldville School
• History of Hot Air Ballooning and Northern Maine’s role
• History of the Maysville Grange
• History of Northern Maine Community College
• History of Northern Maine Fair
• History of Northern Maine Sanatorium
• History of Presque Isle Army Airbase
• History of Presque Isle’s Chamber of Commerce
• History of Presque Isle Curling Club
• History of Presque Isle’s Fire Department and its fires
• History of Presque Isle’s Hospitals
• History of Presque Isle Library
• History of Recreation in Presque Isle (film)
• Ice Harvesting on the Presque Isle Stream (film)
• John R Braden
• Lumbering in turn-of-the-century Maine (film)
• Mary Oak and the Oak Hotel
• Maysville Movers and Shakers
• NW Downing & Son
• Phineas Ellis
• Sidney Cook, Presque Isle’s Pirate
• Teddy Roosevelt in Aroostook County
• The Aroostook School of Commerce
• The Aroostook War and its Maysville ties
• The Contributions of Arthur Gould
• The Life & Times of Vera Estey
• The Mooseleuk Club
• The Pioneer Club
• The Presque Isle House Hotel
• The Victorian Language of Flowers
• Thomas and James Phair
• Victorian Etiquette

For more information or to book a program, please contact Presque Isle Historical Society at (207) 762-1151 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.